So we now find ourselves in the 14th season of new football and well into what was supposed to be football’s ascent to the pinnacle of the Australian sporting landscape.
Well, in almost a decade and a half many things have changed. There is more sporting competition – the Big Bash League, for example – we are faced with an ever-increasing array of entertainment options and social media has changed the way we consume information.
What started as a glorious revolution has sputtered and devolved into what is strangely beginning to resemble old soccer. The average crowd in the A-League’s latest round was 10,550. Take out Melbourne Victory’s home match, however, and it was a paltry 6920.
TV ratings are significantly down, with many in the media speculating whether Fox Sports will even match the current deal come the next round of negotiations – a situation further complicated by streaming rights – and whether the game’s professional future is viable.
Not only is our domestic football failing to capture the imagination, but it is also losing rusted-on fans who feel alienated by the FFA.
At an international level Australia’s so-called golden generation is well and truly gone. A lack of funds to support the national team is an issue in what are echoes of the pre-Guus Hiddink era.
The sledgehammer that new football has taken to the youth development system, alienating traditional clubs that possessed strong youth pathways which produced the aforementioned golden generation, is coming to bare. The AIS is no longer – that’s a whole debate in itself – and a rigid, narrow-minded approach to youth development, plagued with ‘academies’ charging exorbitant fees, has failed to produce the quality players we desire who would in turn help in growing our game.
The so-called ‘transparency’ promised by the new board has failed its first test with the murky sacking of our most successful female international coach, Alen Stajcic. We have two new teams coming in over the next couple of seasons in areas no fans were really screaming for a new team. This dilution of the market and seemingly irrational addition of expansion squads smacks of the old NSL in its death throes as it struggled for relevance.
So how did we get to this point and what are the solutions?
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The problem we have with new football is the exact same one we had with old soccer. One word: Governance.
The old adage that a fish rots from its head rings true. We have a governing body that does not understand nor appreciate the culture, passion and power of football or how to utilise these strengths. Instead it is keen to make football into a second-rate BBL or NRL.
The administrators speak of these mysterious metrics and try to diminish the intangible soul of our game into some boardroom formula. We don’t know what these metrics are, but we can hazard a guess that they may have fallen victim to Goodhart’s law, which says that when a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a good measure. Whatever the intended aims and goals were, the FFA seem to have lost sight of them.
The FFA occasionally seek to justify their decisions, to lay it out in a logical fashion, but empty stadiums and paltry TV ratings do not lie. Fans want community engagement and a sense of belonging. They are not customers. The model is predicated on the need to make a profit, ironically forgetting the one element needed to be successful, which is the fans.
And so the FFA has become beholden to Foxtel. The two new teams we have are purely there at the behest of Foxtel. Canberra? Wollongong? Tasmania? Sorry, the markets aren’t big enough and not sufficiently cost-effective for the A-League’s broadcasters. Profit, you see, takes precedence over the health and growth of our game.
Had the FFA had a fan-based approach, Foxtel would be an integral part of the family, not the sole driving force that the FFA, as a result of its short-sightedness, must rely upon for survival.
(James Elsby/Getty Images)
Where is the FFA’s plan to engage fans? Today it has to deal with an increasing array of entertainment options. People will even opt to play Playstation as a better alternative to watching a game. In the near future there will be augmented reality to contend with.
This corporate culture has also infected many clubs. Where are their plans to engage fans from the moment they leave their home for a match to the moment they return? A whole game-day experience?
Granted, there is also a generational problem. Why would our young kids today spend hours and hours kicking a ball every day to perhaps get a shot at a lower-tier league in Europe with an even more remote chance of ultimately cracking the big time when they can just fire up the Playstation and get instant gratification?
There is no easy fix. It seems there are too many problems. But growth starts with small steps.
What needs to be done? Firstly, someone needs to go into the offices of the FFA and tear down the current decadent strategy. Go to the whiteboard and write one simple word in the middle: Fans. That is who they’re here for. Build the model around them. Get the fan model right and all else will fall into place. All roads, they must be reminded, lead to the fans.
Secondly, make local heroes of our players. Promote tribalism. Embed these clubs in the community as a vehicle to help them. Make the game about the community. You will find the results and events-based mentality of the fickle fans will fade away and you will have a community of loyal fans who support their team regardless of on-field success. Make the team a part of the individual’s identity. Kids will then give their heart and soul to play a role.
Scrap our rigid 4-3-3 youth system because it is damaging our kids’ development and limiting their understanding of the game as well as depriving them of vitally needed skills. Promote futsal to complement their skills. Put the blowtorch on these so-called academies and provide affordable pathways for our kids.
Stop trying to mimic other codes and understand the unmatched and unique value proposition our game has. Learn from the mistakes of the past. Embrace rather than suppress our diversity and history. Promote our heritage – it makes up our DNA and will draw fans to the game. Get your foot off the throat of active supporters. They are the honey that draws new fans.
Listen to the fans. Give them a voice – they are not dollar signs; they are the game’s heartbeat. Fans want to help, they want to contribute and they want to be heard. That is your most valuable asset.
Finally, use football for what it was intended to be used for – as a vehicle for change and a better society. Humanise our game.
Football is awesome. And so are the fans.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Post_hoc Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I understand re the 'cross-summer' time slot to fit into the international calendar - but at the time one could have forecast that the A-League was going to steamroll it's way to having super impressive FTA Friday night viewing audiences as the only weekly scheduled club comp going around (unless somehow basketball could unleash itself) - - that was before the BBL came to town and took over every evening!!! The lack of stars is more the direct comparison with cricket. It hits the Sheffield Shield and the BBL is variously full of Australians and internationals whilst at other times scraping the bottom of the barrel. Interest ebbs and flows relative to that. The A-League - is it a stage for big names - well, not in the peak - it's a developmental and retirement league. 2nd or 3rd tier? It is what it is. The ethnic diversity of a side may or may not be of concern - certainly for Arsenal it's a different 'equation' of a long term top tier club in the peak domestic competition in the UK that has big money behind it and a rather bigger population base to draw upon. If the A-League is in fact a developmental league - a 'stepping stone' to greatness - then, you'd like to think it's mainly acting to help along domestic players on their journey to future Soccerooism. Just be careful going to the market and pretending the product is premium when it's bargain basement. The AFL for all we know may have peaked already - or, it's best days may lay before it.....test of time and all that. Certainly the NSW/QLD strategy was pushed as a 20-50 year focus. More of a assertion it would cost more ultimately to not do it than it costs in the short term to do it. "study has shown the amount of government funding given to AFL is disproportionate to the number of people playing it" Would you be kind enough to point me towards this study? The reason I ask is I've seen some pretty clumsy studies/reports and that included some pretty shoddy fact checking by the RMIT-ABC's fact check back in 2013.
David
Guest
People who live in Greece should want to watch the Greek league. People who live in Scotland should want to watch the Scottish league. People who live in Moldova or Kyrgyzstan or Cameroon should want to watch their national league. Why? Because it's the best football. No! Because it's theirs and will never become like the EPL or Bundesliga unless it's supported. Ignore governance or Foxtel deals or possibly unwarranted sackings of coaches, promotion/relegation/whatever. The biggest single problem that the FFA / A-league / Socceroos have, is "football" people who will not support their own national league, and who cheer for foreign teams but give no support to their own. Football will always play second fiddle to AFL / NRL / Cricket etc as long as people support domestic clubs in other countries, and do not support their own.
RF
Roar Rookie
I don’t come to the site very often now, but this article is outstanding. More of this ilk, please! I haven’t completely lost the faith, but certainly the game appears to be trying a Book of Job job on its true believers. I am only really certain of one thing that MUST happen. The salary cap must go. It has failed dismally. We have to join the global football free market. The big clubs must be allowed to put the lie to the idea, widely held, that this is fifth rate league. Yes, the spend will be uneven, but is the system working for CCM, for example? The money will still be there, assuming a tv deal exists, for the smaller clubs to assemble professional squads, and they will necessarily have to become better at identifying and developing young talent. Until our clubs can spend what they need to raise the standard of football, the public profile of the League, and spend to genuinely complete in Asia, the elite game here will never progress beyond the current hand to mouth existence. Nick raises the issue of the changing cultural landscape. Personally, I would have been utterly dismayed if my sons had chosen football over education. We’re a middle class culture and how many parents would prioritise football over education? Could there be a riskier move than betting everything on a 13 year old turning into a high class professional footballer? There is so much talk on these forums about developing players at 5 or 6; but even at 13 it is hard to say how an athlete will turn out as a body changes. And I’ve seen so many parents and young players burned out completely by elite youth development, the pleasure of the game destroyed for both. Because that is what is – a game. But my word, the misdirected veneration from some people… I look at people like Foster and Slater and co and I often wonder, don’t they get bored? How many games of football can you watch? The most talented player I coached – an outstanding champion sprinter who had all the moves at 15 of a class winger, including a ferocious shot and flawless Cruyff turn, is now finishing an engineering degree. He gave up football at 17. He just wasn’t interested any more. That’s the problem. It isn’t just that our footballers are drawn from the same pool as AFL, Union and NRL and cricket etc – it’s that the pool is even smaller, limited to those who don’t have many other options, and that is more the case now than ever before. Which is why so many players come to Europe from Africa and South America. Places where football is the only option, regardless of your intelligence and capacity to reach for something more substantial than chasing a ball around a square of grass.
Seb Romeo
Guest
Congratulations on possibly the best opinion in a decade.
Tezza
Guest
Post and Nick, nothing wrong with 4-3-3 however when this is the only formation that our juniors are taught to play then that is when trouble begins. Not all games can be played with the same formation and times call for it to be changed depending on how you want to play against a different team. What we don`t want to see is our players grow up under 1 system and then struggle and not make it if they move to another region where that system is not used.
reuster75
Roar Rookie
Victory do an excellent job in terms of engaging with their members by dint of the simple things. After every game home I attend as a member I get an email thanking me for coming, providing a brief summary of the game, great video showing the passion of the crowd and details on when the next home game is. If I don't attend I get an email that has same info as the one sent when I do attend but also with a link to a secure survey (I have to enter by membership number to access) asking me why I didn't attend. More that that though the email heading is 'sorry we missed you'. To me that speaks volumes that the club does actually value my support.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
I think you have some points but miss the opportunity to pull it together. The summer time slot is a misnomer, we actually span 3 seasons starting in October Spring and Completing in the middle of May. More of our season is outside of Summer than inside of summer. The other misnomer is that it avoids the other codes, well considering Cricket is the only other sport (besides football) that unites the whole country then if it was for that reason it wasn't well designed. The reason for the summer slot is to do with the world nature of the game, there is significant advantages to our players and teams to be aligned with Europe and therefore the transfer markets. Players become free at those times, teams are looking to offload or recruit based around those times. It honestly has very little if anything to do with other codes. In regard to the comment about lacking Australian Stars in the teams, this is where you need to have an understanding of football people, the nationality of the teams players is for many if not most irrelevant. Stars don't need to be Australian, Man City I think has 25% of their championship winning team as English born, Arsenal has about 15%. Doesn't stop 60,000 people on average watching Arsenal run around. Non Football field really seem to not understand the international position of football, we don't compete against the socceroos, the fact some play in the A League is less important about how many have COME FROM the A League. As for the AFL, the lack of international position may have been a strength as you said in the past, when the world was a bigger more insular place, but they have recognised that the future is different, why make such a big deal about Sudanese born players? or Canadian or Irish? The market for the sport in Australia is saturated, adding more teams and region are only going to give diminishing returns. The lack of international exposure is a liability going forward, no doubt about it. study has shown the amount of government funding given to AFL is disproportionate to the number of people playing it
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
The NFL is 17 rounds, the EPL is 38
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
.....alternatively - were ALL the eggs effectively stowed in the FIFA WC basket?
feedthegoat
Roar Rookie
SWS was an obvious and wise choice. A football area with money behind it, a stadium in place and abundant growth assured. West Melbourne, not so obvious, but it looks like a safe long term bet. SE melbourne would have been more logical, but it seems they didnt have the beans. At least it is in a growth area and within 20 years it should pay off. I just hope the the money people behind it have the financial fortitude to play the long game.
Punter
Roar Rookie
the FA cup is not the Premier League. The NFL is huge within the US, very small outside of it. The PL is huge within & outside England.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Merseyside (the Liverpool part) was originally (pre 1974) part of Lancashire. You'll never walk alone is from 1963 - i.e, when Liverpool was part of Lancashire - not an uninvented place called "Merseyside". Check your privilege.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
NFL does. Check out the numbers. Attendance. Viewers. How many folks watch the SuperBowl v the FA Cup Final for instance?
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Disagree. Add a 2nd Division next year. That will fix thing. Promotion/Relegation and stuff.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Add another Division - a national 2nd Division. That will fix thing. While you're at it, have the RBA cut teh interest rates so more teams can afford to borrow more money to pay for better players. That will also fix thing.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Post_hoc Thanks for your considered reply. Part of the reason I was curious on this is that back around 2003 - well, the ARU was in a rude state of optimism - and that hasn't evolved all that well for them. This article begins with "....what was supposed to be football’s ascent to the pinnacle of the Australian sporting landscape". Was that ever seriously on the cards? Perhaps it was? Perhaps the newly established FFA thought they could sweep all before them? If so - then certainly the Australian domination plan needs revisiting. The growth strategy - needs to be suitable, realistic, patient, tailored, and necessarily flexible. And this gets back to your point about around effectively too many coals in the fire. Core strengths. The FFA seemed to attack the Australian market hoping to be all things for everybody - - that's expensive. Granted the summer time slot for the domestic league avoids too great a head to head with the established domestic league market leaders (NRL and AFL). Obviously the A-League hasn't hit expectation across its summer slot - revenues from all sources are likely to be below let's just say the optimistic projections that were likely made. Via theRoar we've seen a lot of blame....Blame the BBL, blame the broadcasters, blame the Euro snobs, blame the heat, blame the rain, blame the WSW, blame the media........there is a trend here. Core strengths though. Leading in - coming out of the NSL era - the Socceroos were building through the '90s. National representation is a big deal. The ARU knew this via the Wallabies. I look at both codes and consider neither got the domestic feeder tier quite right. First and foremost cricket teaches us that if the domestic comp is generally missing the national stars then don't expect crowds challenging the national side in the domestic comp. The BBL is the almost exception - but, it still relies on some big names,....marketing.....summer school holidays.....cricket season. (which returns to the question - is summer really 'football season'? - or - is summer more of a 'frivolous' season?) The A-League competes against the Socceroos. That is illustrated in the same way that during the NRL SoO period the NRL H&A season competes against - and loses out to - the SoO. Obviously the SoO stars return to the NRL the rest of the time. Not so for the Socceroos and the A-League. That = trouble. The AFL recognised this years ago and gave up on the SoO and focused on a decent national league (retaining 'fortress Melbourne'). AFL = focus on core strength. I've said before - their lack of international dimension is both weakness and core strength. The AFL works of a fairly straight forward year on year seasonality model. The problem about international competition is it's not all as compelling as one might hope. Not every test series is an Ashes series - Australia vs Sri Lanka or Bangladesh just doesn't quite resonate as much. For the Socceroos not every game is a WC battle. The Asian Cup thrown in - does that matter to the broader community?? Can the FFA have their cake and eat it too? But - how to monetize the product and sustain so many levels of national representation. Lucky Olympic gold medals are up for grabs (= access to Govt funding). And can the FFA keep all the fans happy even some of the time. (= nah, not possible!!). Can enough people be content enough of the time?
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
I don't know what it would like or how it would be different. Personally I don't have a specific issue with people outside of Football being used to run things, Management is a speciality, Sporting Industry CEO's can't be very common, the best person for the job at X time is likely to be different at Y time, because the life cycle is at a different point. Up until this point in time, the people in charge have been professionals with experience, now people complain they are not football people, but then they complain about a Chairman that is a football person. I suspect they are just not happy what is happening so it is irrelevant who is sitting in the chair, Pele could be CEO and they would question how loyal to the game he was. At this point in time I think the sport has matured enough with enough smart people in senior positions that the next CEO is likely to be from a football background, more than likely associated with Victoria. One thing I would of done differently would have been a growth strategy, 5-10-15-20 30. At 5 years build on what we have established, at the 5-10 years growth by 2, and set the area, we are going to have 2 Melbourne teams, 2 Sydney Teams. At 15 years we will have 2 more in this area go off and show us what you can do. by 20 years it will be 16 teams and 2nd division will be established. To do this we need this sort of revenue, if things are delivered early or late, adjust, and explain. The issue has been for me the FFA has too many things going on and not enough resources. If they need to focus on National Curriculum then they take eyes off A League, if they are focus on new TV deal then they can't progress Junior National Teams, they need to spend 2 years out of 4 qualifying for a world cup throw in hosting a Asian Cup etc. Too much for too few resources. Either FFA needs to be bigger OR HAL needed to have a separate management structure earlier.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Post_hoc I do wonder - if the A-League were being set up now - what would be done differently. The wrapping up of the NSL in the early 2000s was a 'time and place'. Had the NSL have survived another 10-15 years - how do you think the A-League might have come about differently now compared to then. And - would you still envisage employing people from the ARU, AFL and NRL to head up the FFA?
Alfie
Guest
Oscar Wilde was a big fan of Bunbury too.
jbinnie
Guest
Fadida- from the figures generated there appears to be around 8-9000 fans who would fit your description as "loyal".However there also appears to be a figure of around 6000 who are in the main entertained by a winning team ,or at least a team playing what is often described as "attractive football". It is these 6,000 people that the Roar executive should be aiming their efforts at in an attempt to supply what they want,for there is an obvious financial gain to be made. Roar are not alone in this predicament ,there are a few more clubs could take the message to heart. Cheers jb.